Variety is the spice of life according to this week’s News Round-Up. In the casting department, I’ve got some news on Sigourney Weaver’s role in the Avatar sequels as well as Josh Brolin’s attachment to Hail Caesar. For release dates, I have IMAX news for Fast & Furious 7 and a standard release date for Joy (David O. Russell’s next film). For director news, Ant-Man replaced Edgar Wright with Peyton Reed while Nicolas Winding Refn signed on to direct I Walk With The Dead. Finally, Sony announced plans to make a Sonic the Hedgehog film adaptation.

All this is below! If you missed this week’s trailers, posters, and photos, make sure to click over there!

Casting

The first of two casting bits I have involves Sigourney Weaver and James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. It appears Weaver will again be in the films but will play a new character altogether. Spoiler alert: her original character died in the first movie, but the Cameron-Weaver combination can’t be stopped! The next three Avatar films will release in 2016, 2017, and 2018. (Source: EW)

The last casting news I have involves Josh Brolin (Oldboy) – who made news last week by joining Guardians in the Galaxy – and the Coen Brothers’ next film, Hail Caesar. Brolin will appear alongside another Coen Brothers’ alum, George Clooney, as the two tackle the story of a 1950’s “fixer.” This one doesn’t have a release date yet. (Source: AV Club)

Release Dates

Fast & Furious 7 is coming to IMAX! Fans of the franchise can expect the next installment to hit the big, big screen in April of 2015. Sure, the film (which returns Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and more) isn’t shot in IMAX, but who cares, right? The seventh installment is directed by James Wan (The Conjuring). (Source: Collider)

It seems like a David O. Russell/Jennifer Lawrence film is coming out every year (oh wait, that’s been true the last couple years). While they won’t release a film together this year, you can expect them to team-up for the film Joy (which will release on December 25, 2015). Is it too early to call this an Oscar frontrunner? (Source: FirstShowing)

Directing Gigs

I was sad to see Edgar Wright (The World’s End) leave Ant-Man last week. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe depending on this film to come out July 17, 2015 (a date they’ve retained despite Wright’s exit), Marvel had to move fast to get a new director. Adam McKay (who signed on as writer) looked like he was poised to take the film, but it was announced Peyton Reed (Yes Man) will direct the pic that stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas. (Source: Deadline)

I also wanted to mention Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) has set his next film – I Walk With The Dead. I still haven’t caught last year’s Only God Forgives but Refn remains as one of my favorite working directors (or at least one in my top ten). I Walk With The Dead doesn’t have any official stars (Carey Mulligan is rumored) or release date (2015 seems logical, though). Filming will occur in Los Angeles in the near future. (Source: IndieWire)

New Projects

Every week, I swear, there are plans of a new non-original adaptation. We’ve had Goosebumps, we’ve had Angry Birds, and now we have Sonic the Hedgehog. Nothing seems to be safe at this point, and you can blame (or praise) Sony for developing the Sonic film. The film will be a computer-animated and live-action film, but other details (director, stars, and release date) aren’t know yet. (Source: THR)

Jordan, who currently resides in Seattle, WA, has slowly become a film fanatic over the past couple of years. He attributes his love for film to the smash hit THE DARK KNIGHT which has created an (un)healthy obsession with both Christopher Nolan and the Batman franchise. Although he appreciates all genres of film, his favorite movies are typically psychological thrillers, with an emphasis on non-traditional narratives.